By Catherine Sasman
WINDHOEK
One of the four Namibian men who had a run-in with the police in Thailand for allegedly selling 700 fake diamonds to a gem dealer in that country, flatly denied the allegation and told New Era that the purported diamonds “do not exist”.
On July 23, a diamond merchant from the Chantaburi Province in Thailand, a certain Gaysorn Jirakasemnukul, reportedly bought the diamonds at a value of almost two million Baht from the Namibians, believing these were genuine, only to discover later that the stones were glazed with a special chemical to make them look like the real thing.
The woman also claimed that the Namibians had stolen her diamond analysis machine and took off with the money to Pattaya.
The four, George Jackson Petrus (37), Immanuel Markus (46), Amukoto Eliaser (40) and Charles Namuyamba (41) reportedly were apprehended by Thai police after they found huge amounts of money in their hotel rooms at the Acadia Mansions in Pattaya.
According to Namuyamba, the police arrived at the hotel at nine in the morning and wanted to know what the Namibians were doing in the country, and asked them to produce their passports.
Namuyamba told New Era that they each had US$40 000 on them, as well as 600 000 Baht in cash.
The police questioned them about the money, as they had not declared it on their entry forms to that country.
“They [the police] said that we were either selling fake diamonds or drugs, which from their [the police’s] experience with Zimbabweans, Namibians and South Africans, was usually the case,” said Namuyamba.
What in actual fact happened, said Namuyamba, was that the four went to Thailand to meet with an “Indian man” who was interested in buying semi-precious stones in Namibia and Zambian emeralds.
The Indian man, whose name he could not provide at the time of the interview, reportedly then gave them the money.
The woman, Jirakasemnukul, was used as a go-between, since the Indian man – due to his foreign nationality – did not want to stand accused of money laundering, or some such crime.
“That Thai woman is not even in business; she does not have any money,” claimed Namuyamba. “She is a poor woman who works for the Indian man in the Chantaburi province. When he heard that we were arrested, he came to Pattaya, but he could not appear.”
The woman, however, appeared with a lawyer and stone dealer, said Namuyamba, to reclaim the money for the Indian man.
“There is no crime,” maintained Namuyamba. “The 700 diamonds do not exist. I don’t know how the guy [the Indian] tried to get his money back.”
He also asked how a diamond buyer could not identify a real diamond from a fake.
“After evaluation, you will know if it is a diamond or not,” he insisted. He further said that they had not tampered with Jirakasemnukul’s diamond analysis machine, let alone misappropriate it.
“All this is, is a future deal that has gone sour,” he said, not willing to give more details.
The police negotiated with the different parties, and the four Namibians, after apparently spending 100 000 Baht, were released.
They have since returned to Namibia.